Goldfinch
05-08-2009, 05:37 AM
Now that I've joined the world of multi-drug users of course I am starting to run into the problem of drug interactions. I trust my doctor to know enough about which drugs I am taking in order to protect me from any potential problems. But when you consider how many different drugs there are and how many of those have several ingredients, it makes you wonder if any one primary care doc can be totally on top of all this.
When I went on Prozac recently my doctor noted that I should not be taking Urelle any more. Luckily my symptoms now seem to be controlled by Elmiron and I don't rely on Urelle like I used to. I did some research and discovered that the component in the urinary tract antiseptics--and that would be Urelle, Prosed and Utira-c, etc.--that interacts badly with Prozac is the Phenylsalycilate, an antiseptic ingredient. As a backup in case of flares we agreed that I should use Pyridium or straight hyoscyamine for pain and/or spasms as long as I was on the Prozac.
I don't have any idea which--if any--of the other SSRI antidepressants react with the UTAs, but it's worth double checking with your doctor if you are currently taking the "pee-blue" meds and are looking to take an antidepressant.
There are many sites that you can research drug interactions. I tried a number of them and found some to be inadequate. The best one I found was at drugs.com. Remember that these sites have to list even the most unlikely possible interactions, so if a drug you are using comes up as problematic in combination with another that doesn't mean you shouldn't take them or that you should panic. Just double-check with your doctor if you have any questions. I did query my doctor on several other things that came up during my search and in all other cases she assured me that the risk of a problem was so low as to not be an issue--or at least not outweigh the benefits of those meds.
When I went on Prozac recently my doctor noted that I should not be taking Urelle any more. Luckily my symptoms now seem to be controlled by Elmiron and I don't rely on Urelle like I used to. I did some research and discovered that the component in the urinary tract antiseptics--and that would be Urelle, Prosed and Utira-c, etc.--that interacts badly with Prozac is the Phenylsalycilate, an antiseptic ingredient. As a backup in case of flares we agreed that I should use Pyridium or straight hyoscyamine for pain and/or spasms as long as I was on the Prozac.
I don't have any idea which--if any--of the other SSRI antidepressants react with the UTAs, but it's worth double checking with your doctor if you are currently taking the "pee-blue" meds and are looking to take an antidepressant.
There are many sites that you can research drug interactions. I tried a number of them and found some to be inadequate. The best one I found was at drugs.com. Remember that these sites have to list even the most unlikely possible interactions, so if a drug you are using comes up as problematic in combination with another that doesn't mean you shouldn't take them or that you should panic. Just double-check with your doctor if you have any questions. I did query my doctor on several other things that came up during my search and in all other cases she assured me that the risk of a problem was so low as to not be an issue--or at least not outweigh the benefits of those meds.